Is it really a simple dispute? Wouldn’t it be better described as an unilateral vicious attack against the world peace and the innocent people of Greenland?
keyUsers on
I wish OP posted a submission statement. Here are interesting bits:
> The Pentagon has issued “prepare-to-deploy” orders to roughly 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division, setting off a wave of debate inside U.S. defense circles and across allied capitals. Officially, the alert is tied to a potential domestic deployment to Minneapolis
> The selection of the 11th Airborne Division has immediately drawn scrutiny. Reconstituted and reoriented in recent years, the division is widely regarded as the Army’s premier Arctic and cold-weather formation, optimized for sub-zero operations, austere airfields, glacier movement, and high-latitude logistics.
>
> Military planners note that for domestic crowd-control or security missions in the Midwest, National Guard units or conventional active-duty formations are typically preferred. **“This is an Arctic hammer being readied for an urban nail,”** said a retired logistics officer familiar with force-generation planning. “That mismatch is what’s raising eyebrows.”
> It is this overlap—Arctic troops on alert and Arctic tensions abroad—that has fueled speculation about a potential strategic deception. Analysts point to a classic military concept: using a plausible domestic emergency to mobilize specialized forces without immediately triggering international alarms.
kvasibarn on
Why? Trump already has the Nobel prize in his possession?
JKKIDD231 on
The Pentagon has issued “prepare-to-deploy” orders to roughly 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division, setting off a wave of debate inside U.S. defense circles and across allied capitals.
BeneficialHoliday839 on
Why aim for the peace prize when there is the war prize?
Eve_Doulou on
So is it time for the Finns to deploy their Jaeger Brigade in support of their Nordic friends?
Time for the snow to whisper in ancient Uralic tongues?
HighlightWooden3164 on
It’s frustratingly annoying to see these moves and I’m still trying to make sense of them. Hopefully, the official story is the actual one and the troops are on standby in case the insurrection act is invoked. But it feels like my optimism is choosing between the lesser of two evils. Attacking NATO militarily would certainly cause more widespread destruction and problems than the insurrection act invocation would.
Another really frustrating thing about this is that the US has some really good opportunities to focus on the Caribbean and Iran, but they are fumbling the opportunities by this. The moves in Venezuela were fine on a geopolitical strategy standpoint (in my opinion) and Europe isn’t up in arms against it (regardless of concerns about legality). Many European leaders did not recognize Maduro as a valid leader and Venezuela provides a good opportunity for countering the Russian war machine by disrupting their shadow fleet.
Not to mention, this is the closest the West has gotten to seeing the overthrowing of the Iranian Islamist regime that has spent decades attacking Western interests across the globe. Not to mention their active role in increasing instability in the Middle East through their funding of numerous proxy wars and terrorist organizations. Europe and the US could work together to put even more economic pressure on the Iranian government to be overthrown. Yet, they now are focused on Greenland….
Last-Yam67 on
Oh don’t worry, those troops are for Trump’s own citizens
Are members of the US armed forces ok with this ? I know they have to obey orders, but they can disobey unlawful ones (lawful or not, I assume it’ll get the troop in trouble for not obeying anyways until proven unlawful). I am wondering how many would be ok with the probability of killing this brings.
Aegishjalmer2520 on
This is a silly hill to kill your presidency on, not claiming Trump is otherwise intelligent, good at business, nor a kind and generous person. But it really makes me think his big tech donors want control over those rare earth metals
Vonderchicken on
What a funny coincidence. Or not? Why this unit in particular?
PausedForVolatility on
So, two likely scenarios that I can see here.
First option: this is cover to ready a unit to deploy to Greenland. The problem here is that it’s only part of the 11th and, while Denmark doesn’t have the biggest garrison ever in Greenland, 1,500 troops is probably not enough for an overwhelming and fast victory. This is also less than half its combat strength (one of two BCTs and without the aviation wing). If I were going to send the 11th into combat, I’d definitely want to send the entire thing. Especially since it’s an airborne unit and leaving the aviation element at home is… questionable. And I’d probably have done something like asked to be invited in-country for the recent exercises and sent some then, too.
Second option: this has nothing to do with Greenland and is instead the Pentagon actively fucking Trump over. If the 11th isn’t available to go into Greenland, there’s not a whole lot of other options. The 11th is *specifically* trained and equipped for arctic combat, a claim very few other units can make. By sending half the unit to a stupid, ill-advised operation in Minnesota, an operation that probably a hundred other battalions are as well equipped and trained to carry out, the Pentagon effectively takes the 11th off the board until they get ordered to relieve them with another unit (which they’ll then probably follow up with a refit period for the 11th, further dragging things out). Bonus points if the Pentagon persuaded Hegseth to pick the 11th.
There’s an edge case where, through sheer incompetence, the Pentagon somehow decided to send the 11th of its own volition. I seriously doubt that’s what’s happening.
If the second option is what’s actually happening, and I’d bet money on it, then that’s the Pentagon playing 4d chess and outmaneuvering Trump and his whole inept administration. Bonus points if the 11th’s ROEs in Minnesota wind up being so restrictive that they functionally aren’t even present.
12 Comments
Is it really a simple dispute? Wouldn’t it be better described as an unilateral vicious attack against the world peace and the innocent people of Greenland?
I wish OP posted a submission statement. Here are interesting bits:
> The Pentagon has issued “prepare-to-deploy” orders to roughly 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division, setting off a wave of debate inside U.S. defense circles and across allied capitals. Officially, the alert is tied to a potential domestic deployment to Minneapolis
> The selection of the 11th Airborne Division has immediately drawn scrutiny. Reconstituted and reoriented in recent years, the division is widely regarded as the Army’s premier Arctic and cold-weather formation, optimized for sub-zero operations, austere airfields, glacier movement, and high-latitude logistics.
>
> Military planners note that for domestic crowd-control or security missions in the Midwest, National Guard units or conventional active-duty formations are typically preferred. **“This is an Arctic hammer being readied for an urban nail,”** said a retired logistics officer familiar with force-generation planning. “That mismatch is what’s raising eyebrows.”
> It is this overlap—Arctic troops on alert and Arctic tensions abroad—that has fueled speculation about a potential strategic deception. Analysts point to a classic military concept: using a plausible domestic emergency to mobilize specialized forces without immediately triggering international alarms.
Why? Trump already has the Nobel prize in his possession?
The Pentagon has issued “prepare-to-deploy” orders to roughly 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division, setting off a wave of debate inside U.S. defense circles and across allied capitals.
Why aim for the peace prize when there is the war prize?
So is it time for the Finns to deploy their Jaeger Brigade in support of their Nordic friends?
Time for the snow to whisper in ancient Uralic tongues?
It’s frustratingly annoying to see these moves and I’m still trying to make sense of them. Hopefully, the official story is the actual one and the troops are on standby in case the insurrection act is invoked. But it feels like my optimism is choosing between the lesser of two evils. Attacking NATO militarily would certainly cause more widespread destruction and problems than the insurrection act invocation would.
Another really frustrating thing about this is that the US has some really good opportunities to focus on the Caribbean and Iran, but they are fumbling the opportunities by this. The moves in Venezuela were fine on a geopolitical strategy standpoint (in my opinion) and Europe isn’t up in arms against it (regardless of concerns about legality). Many European leaders did not recognize Maduro as a valid leader and Venezuela provides a good opportunity for countering the Russian war machine by disrupting their shadow fleet.
Not to mention, this is the closest the West has gotten to seeing the overthrowing of the Iranian Islamist regime that has spent decades attacking Western interests across the globe. Not to mention their active role in increasing instability in the Middle East through their funding of numerous proxy wars and terrorist organizations. Europe and the US could work together to put even more economic pressure on the Iranian government to be overthrown. Yet, they now are focused on Greenland….
Oh don’t worry, those troops are for Trump’s own citizens
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74v0pxg2nvo
Are members of the US armed forces ok with this ? I know they have to obey orders, but they can disobey unlawful ones (lawful or not, I assume it’ll get the troop in trouble for not obeying anyways until proven unlawful). I am wondering how many would be ok with the probability of killing this brings.
This is a silly hill to kill your presidency on, not claiming Trump is otherwise intelligent, good at business, nor a kind and generous person. But it really makes me think his big tech donors want control over those rare earth metals
What a funny coincidence. Or not? Why this unit in particular?
So, two likely scenarios that I can see here.
First option: this is cover to ready a unit to deploy to Greenland. The problem here is that it’s only part of the 11th and, while Denmark doesn’t have the biggest garrison ever in Greenland, 1,500 troops is probably not enough for an overwhelming and fast victory. This is also less than half its combat strength (one of two BCTs and without the aviation wing). If I were going to send the 11th into combat, I’d definitely want to send the entire thing. Especially since it’s an airborne unit and leaving the aviation element at home is… questionable. And I’d probably have done something like asked to be invited in-country for the recent exercises and sent some then, too.
Second option: this has nothing to do with Greenland and is instead the Pentagon actively fucking Trump over. If the 11th isn’t available to go into Greenland, there’s not a whole lot of other options. The 11th is *specifically* trained and equipped for arctic combat, a claim very few other units can make. By sending half the unit to a stupid, ill-advised operation in Minnesota, an operation that probably a hundred other battalions are as well equipped and trained to carry out, the Pentagon effectively takes the 11th off the board until they get ordered to relieve them with another unit (which they’ll then probably follow up with a refit period for the 11th, further dragging things out). Bonus points if the Pentagon persuaded Hegseth to pick the 11th.
There’s an edge case where, through sheer incompetence, the Pentagon somehow decided to send the 11th of its own volition. I seriously doubt that’s what’s happening.
If the second option is what’s actually happening, and I’d bet money on it, then that’s the Pentagon playing 4d chess and outmaneuvering Trump and his whole inept administration. Bonus points if the 11th’s ROEs in Minnesota wind up being so restrictive that they functionally aren’t even present.